


Spring

by peanutbutter_kitz



Series: Seasons [1]
Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: AU, Adorable, At A Later Date, Borderlands AU, Cute, Dating, Dirty Talk, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff, Helios - Freeform, Hyperion, Lovers, M/M, Male Slash, Male/Male, Moments, Rhack- Freeform, Seasons, Series, Sexual References, mature - Freeform, mature- free form, might change the rating, otp, rhack - Freeform, short moments, tftb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:26:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4749749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peanutbutter_kitz/pseuds/peanutbutter_kitz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Handsome Jack decides to install the new Seasonal Imitator (or Weather Generator) one of the workers from the sales department catches his eye, enjoying the new weather with his friends, taking an interest in him. Just short drabbles of a 'Season on Helios' AU for the Rhack ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spring

"B-But Sir, this seems like a very bad decision. It's a lot of money to-" the rather weedy man warns, trying to keep up, doing that half run half walk cycle, with the CEO's long strides which just radiate his pissed off mood.

"Sorry Pumpkin, maybe I misheard you, but are you trying to advise me on what to spend _my_ cash on?" The powerful voice of Handsome Jack growls, glancing back at the man whilst keeping beat with his current pace.

"N-No, S-Sorry Sir." The man stammers clutching the clip board in his hands until his knuckles turn white with fear, halting his steps and standing stock still in the corridor.

"Install it! If I say it'll help Hyperion, it'll help Hyperion." Jack calls, remaining on course for the 'Hub of Heroism', the man being passed by several employees, not even glancing at him. If he had been talking to Jack he was either;

A). Too important to talk to average employees

Or

B). The latest victim of Handsome Jack's rage and disapproval

However option B can always be applied to option A. The heavy duty doors slide open easily for him as he strides into the Hub, the feeling of fresh air hitting him. It wasn't exactly hot air, but it wasn't unbearably freezing either. It was in the middle. Comfortable. He frowns at the sudden feeling, wondering at why he wasn't being blasted with the recycled air like normal. Sucking in a deep breathe through his nose. He picks up on the scented flowers that had begun blooming in large clumps around the room. It felt as if it was purifying his lungs. Like he'd been breathing into a garbage bin for years. How has he put up with the recycled oxygen for this long? There was probably something about this that had his input and signature, and bank details, somewhere, but hell if he remembered where. He dealt with so much shit everyday, how was he expected to remember things that he agreed to and signed? Grabbing the closest worker to him, a woman with a coffee in her left hand, an Echocomm in her right, he grips her forearm, pulling her slightly closer, causing some of her coffee to slosh over the side of her paper cup, the crappy ones that you have to keep switching hands to hold in fear of burning your freakin' fingerprints off, and onto the floor. She goes to protest, but quickly shuts her mouth when she sees who exactly it is that's grabbed her, a look of fear etching into her features. Jack would probably grin and tease about how much he liked to see people just shake in their boots at the mere sight of him, was kinda like an ego boost, but one that was on a constant loop, if he wasn't so god damn interested in why it felt so... Fresh in here.

"What's going on here?" He questions, his free hand making a circling motion, gesturing to the entirety of the Hub.

"S-Sir?" She stammers, too confused to answer truthfully, but too scared to question his meaning. God this was beginning to piss him off. He loved the fear that people vented when they had to speak to him, but all this pathetic stammering and mouthing without words was so irritating! It felt like he was talking to four year olds who had only just learnt their basic vocabulary!

"God Princess, you're so stupid," he mutters, the words working their way through his sigh that leaves his mouth at the same time, "the fresh air and the flowers. Why are they here?" He tries again, adding on the question in case she needed further context, which given the conversation so far, she probably did.

"Uh-Uhm... It's Helios's new seasonal environment imitator. You came up with the idea a couple of months ago and the installation finished yesterday." She replies, swallowing thickly at his ever rising rage. This was his idea? Damn... He's so smart. His mind is always focussing on so many great ideas at one time that the most amazing ones, like this one, that he'd thought of ages ago, sometimes slip his memory. What was he saying? All his ideas are amazing!

"Hmm. So, what season we in at the moment sweetcheeks?" He questions, his eyes scanning the room intensely, picking up on some of the new details. He'd never looked at this woman once. He had no idea what she looked like. For all he cared, she could be a mannequin. As long as his words were listened to and answered, then he couldn't care less about the employee.

"Spring Sir." She replies, Jack's attention suddenly moving onto something else. A group of three were gathered around a patch of flowers, filled to the edges with varying different species of plant, all the way from Daises to Roses, radiating a rainbow selection of colour. One of the three jumps from the group, a young man with a fairly lean body build, landing comfortably on the tips of his toes, pirouetting graciously on his left leg, his arms and other leg outstretched. When he comes to a stop he curtseys, rather clumsily, and looks at the two for appraisal. He watches, his hand releasing the woman he hadn't even realized he was still gripping, and his arm falls to his side as the two friends, one a fairly short nerdy looking man in glasses and the other female, taller and dressed in a rather smart uniform, double over in laughter, the noise distant in Jack's hearing. Rolling his eyes, he descends the steps, picking on some of the figures coming to a stand still as he strides past. Why did he have such idiotic workers? All of them acted like they should be in preschool. He probably would've severred his glare at the kid and his memory would've released the stupid image of him spinning on his toes and the look of mock concerntration on his face, if he hadn't noticed the cybernetetic arm protruding from his torso. Hyperion made by the looks of the colours. Well, it better be and not just some knock off or other company that had been painted with the Hyperion yellow. He probably had the shirt customized, cutting off the sleeve to show it off. Mmh, nah, probably for comfort. Despite his little show in the centre of the room mere seconds ago, he doubts that was for attention, just for the amusement of his friends. He didn't look like he was one to draw attention to himself. Jack was originally coming here just for a coffee to spurr him on for the remainder of the day, but the thought enters his head and he can't resist but messing with the kid who had subtly caught his eye. He didn't like to draw atention to himself... What could draw more attention than Handsome Jack? Walking to the food court, he keeps the man in his sights as he grabs the usual, not having to pay because of his status. That and people on Helios were _way_ too scared to request it from him, knowing he could probably search up their employment records and track them down. Leaning up by a near by wall, sipping his coffee lightly, he watches and the female friend points to a species of flower you can only find on Pandora, one which illuminated with neon purples, greens, blues and yellows. The man leans a little closer to it, his right eye suddenly glowing an electric blue, scanning over the protperties and vitals of the plant. Jack pushes off from the wall, now a lot more intrested than when he first saw the kid enter his peripherals. This was gunna be fun.

* * *

"C'mon Yvette! I wanna get there before everyone else does and them get all the fresh oxygen!" Vaughn whines, watching as the woman swipes her card, gaining her access the the workers store room, collecting her Echo comm from inside her coat pocket.

"Bro, it's still exactly the same rycled air just... Different." Rhys reminds, trying to add logic to his statement. He would give an accurate description on how the system worked, but in all honesty, he had no idea. He was a salesman not a technician. Or mechanic for that matter. Word had spread around Helios fairly quickly when Jack had decided to install a new system that would simulate the four seasons right on the space station in all their glory. Needless to say everyone was excited. Not many people had experienced _actual_ weather. Just that crappy recycled oxygen stuff, that if the filters broke down, like they did a couple of years back, everyone would rather suffocate than taste the mould and dust as they breathe in. That was the closest to weather they got on Helios, dust falling in clumps from the vets and scattering over the floor, like out of date, crappy, grey snow...

"Great description, doofus." Yvette snickers, walking down the corridor with the pair on her right.

"This is gonna be so awesome! I wonder what it'll feel like? Think I should've worn a sweater?" Vaughn babbles, tugging on his half untucked blouse, crinkling his nose at the faded white fabric.

"I did some research and people say that it should be pretty average tempreture wise. You should be fine." Yvette waves off, typing away on her Echo comm. Rhys mouths the word 'Spring' a couple of times before picking up pace a little, his curiosity getting the better of him. Rounding the corner the three stand still in place, mouths agape slightly, marvelling at the new scene in front of them. No more block Yellow. Various colours are scattered around, decorating corners, stairs and anywhere that didn't have an occupational dedication. And the air! The three breathe in deep at the fresh warm air flooding through the vents and into their systems.

"This is so cool!" Rhys exclaims, jumping forward slightly, putting some distance between him and the pair. Landing comfortably on his left leg's toes, he uses the remaining force of his jump to propel his spin, extending his arms and other leg out for exaggerated grace. Being forced to pull his other leg down, wobbling noticeably as he becomes unbalanced, he bends at the knees slightly, his cybernetic arm against his back, his organic one pressed to his chest, curtsying to finish one of the shortest performances in history. Looking up at Vaughn and Yvette expectantly, he rises, a grin plastered to his face, as the pair double over in laughter.

"I definetly _wouldn't_ pay to see that ballet." Yvette teases, finally composing herself and standing straight again.

"H-Handsome Jack's in here!" Vaughn stammers, his eyes following the CEO as he descends the stairs.

"What?! Where?!" Rhys exclaims, his fun suddenly diminishing and the air growing heavy. He attempts to turn to follow Vaughn and Yvette's gaze, when he's quickly stopped.

"Dont look you idiot, too obvious." Yvette comments.

"What's he doing?" Rhys questions, using his friends as his sight.

"Getting coffee, but he was looking at us." Vaughn replies, Yvette grabbing the pair by their shoulders and dragging them to a flowerbed.

"Oh God, he saw me act like a complete weirdo." Rhys moans in shame.

"Don't worry, you always act like that." Yvette giggles playfully, "just ignore him guys. The more attention you pay him, the more reason he has to come over here." She finishes, directing their attention to the variation of colours in front of them. One catches her eyes and she directs Rhys' eyes to it by pointing a perfectly manicured finger to it, hovering just by its petals. It was one that radiated neon colours that mixed so well together, it was soothing to look at.

"Scan this one. I wanna know what it's called!" Yvette orders sweetly. The whirs and clicks mix together as his Echo eye kicks into life, almost drowned out, as Vaughn whispers close to his ear.

"He's looking at you!" He warns, as if what they were doing was illegal. Scanning the rather perfectly shaped, small, foreign flower, he's about to reveal the complex name to Yvette, when he's interrupted.

"He's coming over! Rhys!" Vaughn panics, ending the quick glance he shoots in Jack's direction and pulling his eyes back to the flower bed, acting as if he knew exactly what they were doing and talking about. Rhys swallows thickly, trying to make it look as if he was oblivious to the approaching man. Well, acting could only become believable if the team worked together and acted to the best of their ability. The three standing stock still, stooped down slightly, just _staring_ at the plant, probably wasn't their best choice of action. They didn't even blink or move their eyes to at least hint that they were still interested in the new object. They just _stared._

"You three ok? You've been like that for a weirdly long amount of time." The dominating voice rings out. The voice that you really didn't want to hear approaching you in the corridor because you knew your best option was to either throw yourself into the closest room or out the nearest window.

"Handsome Jack, Sir. Fine, Sir. Just-" Rhys begins. Standing straight once again, accepting that they weren't gonna get out of this conversation.

"Just playing it 'cool', whilst your buddy here warns you that I'm coming over?" Jack interrupts, gesturing to Vaughn and smirking, instantly unravelling their _flawless_ acting. He also noticed that the same kid that he had watched twirl around earlier didn't stammer at any point during his sentence. Right now he was probably trying to figure out in his own head if that was confidence or just pure stupidity.

"...Yeah." Rhys mutters in utter defeat, after a short hesitation, trying to think of anyway he could cover this up.

"Weren't going to lie to me there, were you kiddo?" Jack asks, cocking an eyebrow toward the man who was rivalling his height. _Only_ his height. Certainly not his build.

"No sir." Rhys replies almost instantly, shaking his head furiously.

"Good," Jack nods slowly, knowing that this again was just another lie, but what can he say, he was feeling generous, "so, wanna tell me how you've got a fancy echo eye and robo arm?" He continues, folding his arms across his chest, tilting his head to the side slightly as he examines both aspects quickly.

"I-I just got a message from my boss. He wants me back to work early. I'll see you later Rhys!" Yvette calls, quickly glancing at her phone and backing out from the conversation.

"Yeah, bro, you don't need us for this. I'm gonna help Colleen with some paperwork." Vaughn adds, also parting from the pair and disappearing into an adjoining corridor. Assholes. They'd up and left him with one of the most powerful men in the universe. The man with an ever-growing kill list, that probably had at least nine names added to it every day. He'd make sure to make his own list when he got back, them pair being the first to grace it with their names.

If he got back that is.

He turns his attention back to Jack who is tapping his foot, rather impatiently. Normally he would've pulled those two back by the scruff of their necks for interrupting one of his conversations, or _jetting of_ during one of his conversations.... But right now he wasn't too bothered. To be honest, he'd totally forgotten that they were there, never really acknowledging their presence to begin with. Making a grabbing motion with his hands, Rhys holds out his cybernetic arm, Jack grasping onto it. His fingers play along the metal, tracing along the corners of where the Hyperion yellow paint was chipping away from basic wear and tear. He feels the grooves over the metallic fingertips from holding various objects throughout the years. His middle finger extends, following smoothly along the rings of the circle in his palm. Rhys becomes slightly mesmerized by the gentle, intricate movements, his lips parting slightly, not realising Jacks eyes moving to scan over his face. His hand moves from his hand to his wrist, lingering slightly on the joint, before continuing up the cybernetic arm, using his fingers as his vision whilst his eyes remained fixed on the other man's face. His eyes are drawn to the pink of lips that are still parted and being able to see his mismatched eyes through his eyelashes, looking down at his hand. Suddenly, there's a light tune that plays through the speakers, alerting workers that their lunch break was over and that they need to return to their work stations. Rhys goes to pull his arm from Jacks grasp, hoping that the CEO would understand his actions and wouldn't need a worded reason. However, his arm is grabbed before it can fall to his side, pulling him back slightly.

"Sir, uh, I need to return to work now." Rhys reminds, his tone wavering slightly.

"You know who you're with cupcake? I'll tell your boss that you'll be late. Appreciate the weather." Jack smirks, pulling up and chair. Pushing the chair leg opposite him with his foot, directing the younger man to sit. Rocking back onto the chairs back legs, Jack folds his arms behind his head breathing the fresh air deeply. Rhys sits down on the offered chair, cautiously and rather unsettled, his hands laying to rest of the table.

"So then Kiddo, what department you in?" Jack sighs, his eyes closed as his head remains tilted to the ceiling.

"Sales, Sir." Rhys replies his flesh hand fiddling with his robotic one. Suddenly, Jack leans forward, resting his weight on his elbows.

"Stop with the 'Sir's' Cupcake." Jack orders, waving it off.

"Yes S-" Rhys begins but cuts himself off, feeling the emptiness of just saying one word.

"Jack." The older man chuckles, ending the sentence for him. Jack stands, rounding the table to stand by Rhys' side. When the younger man looks up at him expectantly, he leans down, one hand gripping his chin and the other holding onto his forehead, tilting his head back, a thumb resting on his right eyebrow.

"J-Jack?" Rhys stammers, struggling against the man's rather tight grip. He hated the feeling of staring, so to have the gaze of Handsome Jack so intently on him was unnerving to say the least.

"Stay still Kitten." Jack coo's. Rhys instantly halts his movements, a pink blush dusting over his cheeks at the new nickname. Two thumbs tug his eyelids apart, giving Jack a more fulfilled view of the cybernetic implant. It suddenly whirs into life, lighting up to that striking electric blue that Jack was beginning to like, before Rhys points his vision in a different direction, forcefully turning it off.

"Sorry, it -uh- does it unintentionally sometimes." Rhys apologises, the blush fading to a deep rouge.

"Nah don't worry kiddo, let it scan me." Jack grins, removing his hands from the younger male and standing in a rather relaxed position, his feet spread apart slightly and his thumbs hooked into his belt loops. Hesitating slightly, Rhys swallows hard before turning the echo eye back on, scanning the man in front of him.

"So? What's it say?" Jack asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"Uh, that your registered as Handsome Jack, your temperature and heartbeat are normal, you're in a pretty relaxed mood and uhm-" he rolls off, his voice cracking and cutting short after reading the final statistic.

"Go on..." Jack smirks, knowing that he'd gotten to the activity section.

"It says that you're- you're looking at something... A-attractive." He tries again stammering and stumbling over his words slightly. He focuses his vision back to take a quick glance at Jack, who has his eyes trained on him. He was the attractive thing?

"T-The software's kinda outdated. I'm saving up to get the latest instalment." Rhys mutters, feeling the embarrassment of the silence falling on him.

"Don't worry about it Kiddo, as long as it's still telling you the right facts and figures that's all that matters right?" Jack points out, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, but-... O-Oh." Rhys begins before it finally clicks in his head. Jack found him attractive? This had to be his infamous humour... right?

"Anyway, time we got back to work Kiddo." Jack announces, ruffling his hand in the mans amber hair, "Catch ya round, Kitten." He smirks, slipping his hands into his pockets and sashaying across the room to the elevator which leads up to his office.

 


End file.
